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FOOD CROPS

1) Define the term ‘cereal’.

→ ‘Cereals’ is a collective term for all kinds of grass-like plants, which have starchy, edible
seeds.

Rice
1) Name the most common cereal in India. What is the most eaten staple food crop in India?

→ Rice is the most common cereal in India.

The most eaten staple food crop in India is rice.

2) Name the largest and second largest rice producing country.

→ The largest rice producing country is China and the second-largest rice-producing country is
India.

3) Write the geographical conditions for the cultivation of rice.

→ The geographical conditions for rice cultivation are:

i) Temperature: It requires a mean annual temperature of 24°C with a range of 22°C to


32°.
ii) Rainfall: Rainfall should between 150 cm to 300 cm, but much less is required if
irrigation is available.
iii) Soil: Soil must consist of alluvial, friable loams with clay like impervious subsoil. Such
soil permits stagnation of water in the fields during the period of cultivation.

4) Name the categories of rice and differentiate between them.

→ The two categories of rice are Upland Rice and Lowland Rice.

5) Why stagnant water is required in the field during rice cultivation?

→ The stagnant water in the fields protects the plants from pests which cannot survive under
water.

6) Differentiate between broadcasting and dribbling method.


→ The difference between broadcasting and dribbling method is:

BROADCASTING DRIBBLING
Broadcasting is the scattering of seeds by hand Dribbling is the dropping of seeds at regular
over the soil. intervals in the furrows made by the plough.

7) State two advantages and two disadvantages of drilling method.

→ Two advantages of drilling method are:

i) The seeds fall in the furrows in a systematic way.


ii) The germination rate of these seeds is high and wastage of these seeds is minimal.

Two disadvantages of drilling method are:

i) This method entails more labour.


ii) It is time consuming.

8) Why seeds are soaked upto 24 hours before being sown in the field?

→ The seeds are soaked upto 24 hours before being sown in the field to speed up germination
in soil that is not sufficiently moist.

9) Why impervious subsoil is required for rice cultivation?

→ Impervious subsoil permits stagnation of water in the fields during the period of cultivation.

10)a) What is transplantation?

→ Transplantation is the sowing of seeds which is usually done in well-prepared seedbeds


called nurseries, at the beginning of monsoons. In about 4 weeks time, when the plants are 15
cm to 20 cm tall, they are carefully uprooted in bunches, replanted in parallel rows at regular
intervals in well-prepared flooded fields, and left to grow till they mature. Then the surplus
water is drained so that by the time the grain ripens, the field is dry. Normally, a temperature of
about 27°C is ideal for ripening.

b) Write two advantages of transplantation.

→ Two advantages of transplantation are:

i) It increases yields by 45 per cent, facilitates harvesting with scythes and used water
economically.
ii) It uses water economically.
c) What are the advantages of growing rice in nurseries?

d) Why is transplantation popular?

→ Transplantation is popular because it increases yields by 45 per cent, facilitates harvesting


with scythes and uses water economically.

11) Which is the latest method and write its advantages.

→The Japanese Method is an improved form of transplantation method, introduced in 1953


and has gained wide popularity in recent years. In this method, high yielding varieties of seeds,
called ‘Japonica’ are used.

12) How is rice processed?

→ Harvesting is done by hand using a sickle and the cut crop is then allowed to dry in the field
for 3 to 4 days. Threshing is done by bullocks to separate the grain from the chaff. In some rural
areas the sheaves are beaten against the bars across rounded wooden tubs so that the grain
falls into the tub. Hand pounding preserves nutrients. It is done in a wooden mortar pounded
by a long wooden pestle. Polishing of rice is done to make it more attractive and preserve it.
However, it loses much of its nutritive value when polished. It is done in rice mills where it
passes between varying sets of hullers and rollers.

13) What is paddy?

→ Rice with its husk is known as ‘paddy’.

14) Where is jhumming done but is forbidden?

→ In the hilly regions of North-East India, jhumming, shifting cultivation or slash-and-burn


agriculture is practice, but the yield is low and the method is wasteful, hence forbidden.

15) Name two rice producing states in India.

→ Two rice producing states in India are Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

16) Why is India not able to export rice?


→ Rice is the most important staple food crop of India, which feeds more than half of our
population. India is not able to export rice because the quantity of rice produced is not surplus
after meeting the demand of rice.

Wheat
1) Name the second most important food crop in our country.

→ Wheat is the second most important food crop in our country.

2) What is the world’s most important food crop?

→ The world’s most important food crop is wheat.

3) Write the geographical requirements of production of wheat.

→ The geographical requirements of production of wheat are as follows:

i. Temperature: 10°C to 15°C but not mor4e than 20°C to 25°C when ripening.
ii. Rainfall: 50 to 100 c. Wheat can be grown in drier regions if irrigation is available.
iii. Soil: Soil must be clayey, loamy or black soil, well drained, textured with a small lime
content. The soil should contain much decayed organic plant and animanl matter to
provide food for the wheat plant.

3) What is spike and spikelets?

→ The head of the stem of a wheat plant is called spike.

4) When is wheat grown in India?

→ Wheat is a rabi crop grown mainly during winter. In northern India, wheat is generally sown
in October-November and harvested in March.

5) Name the two varieties of wheat. Which varieties of wheat are cultivated in India?

→ Two varieties of wheat are spring wheat and winter wheat.

Spring wheat (soft variety) and macaroni (harder variety) are cultivated in India.
6) What is macaroni? Where is it cultivated?

→ The harder variety or ‘macaroni’ wheat is grown on south Indian black, clayey soil where no
irrigation facilities are available. Such areas include Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, etc.

7) Why ploughing is done after harvesting wheat?

→ Ploughing breaks up the soil surface and allows moisture to soak into the soil as also pulls
weeds and the remains of the previous crop.

8) Why is winter rainfall beneficial for wheat cultivation?

→ The winter rain due to western disturbances in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh
is beneficial to the wheat crop as it speeds germination.

9) Why Punjab and Haryana is suitable for wheat cultivation?

→ The winter rain due to western disturbances in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Praesh is
beneficial to wheat crop as it speeds germination.

10) Why fertilizers must be added to soil?

→ Fertilizers must be added to soil to supplement any deficiencies.

11) Give two natural and one man-made factor that favours the cultivation of wheat.

→ Natural factors: i) Winter rainfall in Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh is beneficial to early
germination.

ii)

Artificial factors: i) Wheat farmers prepare fields for the next crop as soon as possible after
harvest.

12) Give two aspects of the ‘Green Revolution’. What helps in the increase yield of wheat?

→ During the first Green Revolution of 1967-68, the introduction of high-yielding Mexican
wheat and hybrids had led to the maximum yield in less acreage, especially in Punjab where
each spikelet may have 25 to 200 grains of wheat within.
The introduction of high-yielding Mexican wheat and hybrids had led to the maximum
yield in less acreage, especially in Punjab where each spikelet may have 25 to 200 grains of
wheat within.

13) Why is wheat not grown in the eastern and in the extreme southern part of India?

14) Name the leading wheat producing state.

15) Why is the area under the cultivation of wheat on the increase?

16) In what important respects do the climatic conditions for wheat differ from those of rice?

→ The differences are:

RICE WHEAT
It requires an mean annual temperature of 10°C to 15°C but not more than 20°C to 25°c
24°C with a range of 22°C to 32°C. when ripening.

Rainfall for rain-fed cultivation should be 50 cm to 100 cm.


between 150 cm and 300 cm, but much less is
required if irrigation is available.

17) Why research is being done to evolve rust and smut? OR Which virulent fungi disease
affects wheat?
→ Research is being done to evolve rust and smut resistant as virulent fungi diseases affect the
production of wheat.

Millets
1) What are millets?

→ Jowar, Bajra and Ragi are together called millets.

2) How is millet useful in developed and under-developed countries?

→ In undeveloped countries, millets provide nutritive food for the teeming poor, while in
developed countries they are fodder crops.

3) Write the geographical conditions for jowar, bajra and ragi.

→ The geographical conditions for ragi are:

i) Temperature: 27°C to 32°C.


ii) Rainfall: 50 to 100 cm.
iii) Soil:A variety of soils are found suitable.

The geographical conditions for jowar are:

i) Temperature: 27°C to 32°C


ii) Annual Rainfall: 20 to 100 cm
iii) Soil: Dry soil-through clayey loams are the best.

The geographical conditions for bajra are:

i) Temperature: 27°C to 32°C


ii) Annual Rainfall: 50 to 100 cm
iii) Soil: Dry soil-through clayey loams are the best.

4) Why are millets referred to as dry crops?

→ Millets are referred to as ‘dry crops’ as they are hardy, drought and heat-resistant and
therefore cultivated in the drier parts of the monsoon lands, particularly the Deccan Plateau,
mainly for local consumption.

5) What is the common features of all millets?


→ The common features between millets is that all the millets are kharif crop as well as rabi
crop.

6) Why are millets referred to as food grains of the poor?

→ Millets are referred to as food grains of the poor because millets provide nutritive food for
the teeming poor.

7) Write the other name of jowar, bajra & ragi.

→ The other names are:

i) Jowar: Sorghum or Cholam


ii) Bajra: Chumbu
iii) Ragi: Nachni

8) Name two millet producing state.

→ Two millet producing state are :

i) Jowar: Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra


ii) Bajra: Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra
iii) Ragi: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu

Pulses
1) Name one crop which is kharif in North India and rabi in South India.

→ Pulses are cultivated as kharif crops in North India and rabi crops in South India

2) What roles do pulses play in the diet of vegetarians?

→ Pulses are very nutritive, being rich in proteins which are essential in a vegetarian diet.

3) What is included in pulses?

→ Pulses include peas, beans, lentil, foodgrains such as gram (channa) which is most important
and dals, such as moong, masur, tur and urad.

4) What is a useful rotation crop? Give reason to support your answer.


→ Pulses are leguminous plants with a high nitrate content and help to restore soil fertility
(nitrogen), hence grown in the course of crop rotation.

5) Name to pulses producing states.

→ Two pulses producing states are Haryana and Punjab.

6) Why the area under pulse cultivation has increased?

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